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“Hello, Amelia... ?” Sam waves his hand in front of my face, and I become painfully aware that I just spaced out on him.
The timer on the oven goes off, saving me from having to answer whatever question he just asked. I place the cookie sheets on the rolling cooling rack before turning back just in time to stop Sam from grabbing a cookie from the scorching hot sheet pan. I smack his hand away and scold, “Give it a minute. They’ve got to cool down.”
This gorgeous, intimidating man actually pouts like a child when he doesn’t get his way... or his cookie. Then he gets serious. It’s the look he gives me when he knows I’m not going to like what he has to say, and I’m all too familiar with it. “What’s on your mind, Sam?”
“I’m going to be out of town for a few days. If you need anything and you can’t get hold of me, I need you to call Dean right away. Okay?”
My heart drops.
I wonder if he’s going out of town with one of the women I’ve seen gracing his arm lately.
Sam’s family has money. And even though most of it comes from less than legal streams, they have quite a few legitimate businesses as well. Meaning Sam goes to quite a few high-profile events every month and has had a different gorgeous woman on his arm at each one. He might be a mafia prince, but he’s also part of Philadelphia’s elite society. He was on Philly’s Most Eligible Bachelor list last year, sandwiched between a Kingston and an MMA champion. It’s a part of his life I don’t ask about because I don’t want to know the answers.
I know I can’t have him.
But that doesn’t mean I want someone else to either.
Call me greedy. I’ll own it. I just won’t admit it to him.
Instead, I flippantly tell him, “Have fun. I won’t need Dean. Pretty sure you know I can take care of myself.” Then I hand him a warm cookie and a paper coffee cup filled with milk.
Sam dunks the damn cookie before breaking it in half and shoving the entire thing in his mouth. “Not that kinda trip, Snow. It’s work, not play. I should be back by the end of the weekend.” He licks melted chocolate from his fingers, and I don’t know if it’s because he’s now done that twice today, but God... I want to be that finger. A moan escapes the lips I’m staring at before he adds, “This is the best thing I’ve ever had in my mouth,”
I swear he licks his fingers slowly.
Seductively.
His eyes locked on mine like he knows what I’m thinking.
I need to stop feeding this man.
“You may have told me that a time or two.” I turn my back to him and bag up a few cookies while I give myself a minute to cool down from the heat in the room, not sure if it’s coming from the ovens or my imagination.
I hand him the bag and move to push my way through the swinging doors of the kitchen when Sam gently grabs my wrist. “One of these days, I’m going to taste something even sweeter, Amelia.”
It only takes the tiniest effort to pull my wrist free.
The attraction is so strong.
Too strong.
But this isn’t happening.
Not now.
Not when I’m not sure how long I’m staying in the city. “We’ll see about that, Samuel.”
The chimes above the door ring, and I hear the familiar laughter of Belle’s one-year-old twin girls, Everly and Gracie. These two are never quiet. I leave Sam standing in my kitchen, but not before I hear him quietly agree, “Yeah, Snow. We’ll see about that.”
His presence looms behind me as we move into the front of the bakery. We’re met with Belle fighting to get the twins to sit and Dean holding a cup of coffee out for Sam.
Guess he was waiting for us.
When Dean’s phone rings, he tells Sam he’ll meet him in the car, and Sam turns to me with an odd expression on his face. He palms my cheek, catching me off guard, and wipes away what I’m guessing is flour with his thumb. “We’re going to talk when I get back, Amelia.”
He drops his hand and waits for my answer.
I tilt my head, trying to understand what he’s saying. “We talk all the time, Sam.” This is the strangest exchange we’ve ever had.
